Roswell Daily Record THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
Vol. 123, No. 296 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
December 10, 2014
WEDNESDAY
Commission raises GRTs, lowers property taxes BY JEFF TUCKER RECORD STAFF WRITER
The Chaves County Commissioners voted Tuesday to raise gross receipt taxes while also voting to decrease property taxes to their lowest levels since 1995. Some of the five Republican commissioners had said they would never vote for a tax increase, although all five commissioners voted Tuesday to raise the GR T by 0.375 cents for
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every dollar of goods and services purchased in the county, excluding food and medical expenses. The commissioners said increasing gross receipts taxes is necessary to avoid laying off 20 to 40 county employees, to maintain roads and to meet the costs of the construction and operation of the Chaves County Detention Center. The commissioners also voted unanimously Tuesday to decrease property tax rates by 1 mill, to 9.350 mills.
In a final fiscal matter Tuesday, the commissioners unanimously approved the issuance of a promissory note of up to $4 million. County leaders said the $4 million revenue infusion is needed to meet the county’s current financial obligations. The promissory note will be paid by future GRT revenues.
Gross receipts taxes
The commissioners held a public hearing Tuesday
morning regarding the proposed GRT increases. No one spoke either in favor or against the tax increases at the 9 a.m. meeting at the Chaves County Administrative Center. After an extensive discussion among the commissioners, they voted in favor of the three proposed ordinances, each of which will raise GRT on businesses by one-eighth of a percent, or 0.125 percent each, effective July 1. The net effect of all three
GR T increases is 0.375 percent, or 0.375 cents for every dollar spent on goods and services that are subject to gross receipts taxes. One of the GRT increases will expire on June 30, 2020, if not repealed by the county commissioners before that time. The second GRT increase will expire on June 30, 2023, if not sooner. The third GR T increase has no expiration date. Proceeds from all three GRT increases were dedicated by the commissioners
to detention center costs, the Road Department or for the “reimbursement of depleted funds used to construct the detention center project.” “We do not plan on growing gover nment,” said County Manager Stanton Riggs.
The $15.1 million jail renovation project is expected to be completed in August. The project’s total cost, including new personSee TAXES, Page A8
A trip back in time at Mas onic lodge
Roswell temple opens capsules from 1909, 1964
BY TIMOTHY P. HOWSARE RECORD EDITOR
The Roswell Masonic Temple time traveled back to the years 1964 and 1909 Saturday when members displayed the contents of two recently opened time capsules. Beautifully preserved inside the capsules were copies of the Roswell Daily Record, including one announcing President Kennedy’s assassination, and yearbooks from Roswell High School and New Mexico Military Institute. Goddard High School did not exist in those days. Around 200 items were taken out of the time capsules and displayed on tables for an open house at 4 p.m. Reel-to-reel tapes had been stowed away in the 1964 time capsule, and the
Timothy P. Howsare Photos
Above: This Nov. 22, 1963, front page of the Roswell Daily Record chronicles the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Right: Masonic lodge member Dewey Davis, left, explains some of the time capsule items to visitors during an open house on Saturday.
recorded data was transferred to digital media, said Dewey Davis, a lodge member who serves on the Time Capsule Committee. Of special importance was one 40-minute tape from a lodge meeting in 1964. There were 97 different Masons on tape who had stated their names and occupations, Davis said. Davis, a native resident, said he recognized all of those names. Davis said some of the items will be donated to the local historical society but most will be placed in a new capsule that will be sealed in 2015 and opened in 2065. The lodge’s most notable historical item, the “Valley Forge apron,” was never placed inside a time capSee CAPSULES, Page A2
NMSU loses long-term Asleep at the Wheel to play The Liberty NASA balloon contract BY ALEXIA SEVERSON LAS CRUCES SUN-NEWS
LAS CRUCES — New Mexico State University lost its biggest technical contract and one of its most long-standing when NASA awarded management of its Scientific Balloon Program to Orbital Sciences Corp. of Greenbelt, Maryland. The contract was valued at an estimated $20 million to $30 million a year over five years for the university’s Physical Science Laboratory, which provided operation and maintenance of scientific balloon facilities and engineering support for the program, which conducts high-altitude scientific balloon research and
scientific work. NMSU submitted a proposal to rebid for the contract in March. “We regret that after 27 years of providing outstanding support to NASA’s science mission through scientific balloon launches from all over the world, we will not be able to contribute to NASA’s Science mission through this program,” said Vimal Chaitanya, NMSU’s vice president for research. The contract includes operating the permanent balloon staging facility at Fort Sumner, about 85 miles north of Roswell, and the Columbia Scientific
Submitted Photo
After a little more than a decade, Asleep at the Wheel retur ns to Roswell. According to lead singer Ray Benson, the last time the band played in Roswell was during the 2004 UFO Festival. He said, “We played during the alien invasion and we played golf with Nancy Lopez. We love coming to Roswell, and it has been too long.” Asleep at the Wheel will be playing their Western swing music at The Liberty, located at 312 N. Virginia Ave., at 7 p.m. Thursday. Now in their 44th year of performing, Asleep at the Wheel has won nine Grammy awards. They have also been voted Best Country See AATW, Page A3
Mary Keating-Bruton Photo
Asleep at the Wheel will perform at 7 p.m. Thursday at The Liberty.
ENMU-R grad to receive degree 1 year after high school See NASA, Page A3
BY DYLANNE PETROS RECORD STAFF WRITER
Melissa Juarez, 19, from Hagerman, graduated high school in May 2013, with 50 college credits. On Thursday, she will receive her associate’s degree in business administration from Eastern New Mexico University-Roswell.
REY BERRONES VISION EDITOR
While it’s not unusual for someone to graduate high school at the age of 19, one local woman is graduating at that age from Eastern New Mexico UniversityRoswell with an associate’s degree. Melissa Juarez, of Hagerman, started taking college classes as a sophomore in high school. “Our school gave us the chance to do (college classes),” she said. “They were
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paid for. I wanted to take advantage of it.” Juarez started taking three or four college classes a semester, although she was not sure she knew what her major would be. Instead of taking all high school classes, her college classes counted as high school and college credits. Juarez graduated high school in May 2013, just one day shy of her 18th birthday. She also graduated with around 50 college credits. “It wasn’t easy but I don’t regret it,” she said.
• RONALD JAMES (R.J.) JOHNSON • FABIAN WARD JR.
After graduating high school, Juarez planned to move away to continue her college career. Her plans changed, however, when she received the Presidential Scholarship from ENMU-R. The Presidential Scholarship is a scholarship that is awarded to high school graduates who maintained 3.5 GPA during their high school career. To receive the scholarship, students must be enrolled in 12 credit hours each semester, maintain a 3.25 GPA while attending ENMU-R and
• ROBERT JOE ANGEL ARCHULETA JR. • CLYDE RIVAS VARGAS
graduate from ENMU-R with an associate’s degree. “When they gave me the Presidential Scholarship I said, ‘I’m staying,’” Juarez said. “I’m glad I did (stay) because a lot of people who leave the first year, don’t focus … they get distracted.” By the time she graduated high school, Juarez had an idea of what she wanted to major and minor in. Her major is business administration, which she chose after debating between that and accounting and her minor is Span-
• CAROLYN LOIS CLARK • LEON WHITCAMP • NAOMI ATKINSON
TODAY’S OBITUARIES PAGE A7
ish since there is a huge population that speaks Spanish in New Mexico. Spanish is Juarez’s first language, but what she learned in school was not exactly what she learned growing up. “Even though I know Spanish, the Spanish they teach is kind of different,” she said. “My mom said, ‘that’s not the Spanish you’re used to but that’s the right Spanish.’” Staying in Roswell to See JUAREZ, Page A3
INDEX CLASSIFIEDS ..........B8 LOTTERIES .............A2 COMICS .................B7 OPINION .................A4 HOROSCOPES .......A10 SPORTS .................B1 FINANCIAL ..............B4 WEATHER ............A10